KUALA LUMPUR – Six-year-old Palestinian-American boy identified as Wadea Al-Fayoume was killed after being stabbed 26 times with a 12-inch serrated military style knife yesterday in his home in Chicago’s Plainfield Township in the United States.
His mother, Hanaan Shahin, was also brutally attacked with the knife a dozen times and choked by their 71-year-old landlord, Joseph Czuba, before she ran into the toilet to call the police. When she came out of the toilet, she found that her son had been stabbed by Czuba.
“It all happened in seconds,” she texted.
According to written text messages reportedly sent to the father of the boy by Hanaan from the hospital and shared with the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Chicago office, the landlord had been angry with what he was seeing in the news about the escalating Israel and Hamas clash in the Middle East.
The police were able to determine that both victims were targeted due to their being Muslims and the ongoing conflict.
Mother and son, who lived on the ground floor of an apartment building for the last two years, had no notable issues with Czuba. Wadea had just celebrated his sixth birthday a couple of weeks ago.
According to the Will County Sheriff’s Office, police found the two victims in a bedroom with stab wounds to their chest, torso, and upper body. Wadea, who was in critical condition, later succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Meanwhile, when police arrived at the building, they found Czuba sitting upright outside on the ground near the driveway of the residence. He had a laceration to his forehead and was later sent to a hospital for treatment.
Even though Czuba did not make any statements to the police regarding his role in the attack, authorities gathered enough information to charge him with first degree murder, attempted first degree murder, two counts of hate crime, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
He has been sent to the Will County detention facility, awaiting his first court appearance.
CAIR-Chicago is calling on officials and broadcasters to reconsider fanning an atmosphere of hate and dehumanisation, not seen since the aftermath of 9/11, which puts communities at certain risk.
At least 2,670 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air raids. The number of Israelis killed in Hamas’ military operation stands at 1,400, including 286 soldiers. – October 16, 2023